Hey Guys!
So I've made a couple of AG brews in 1gallon batches with varying success - they've usually been from pre bought kits but havent quite worked out as I'd expected - either I was hoping for greatness or made some errors. Any faults with the finished beer was definitely due to errors on my part and not the kit! So with those OK brews under my belt (let's mark them 6 out of 10 - could do better) I decided to do it right and make some recipes of my own!
I had a look on here, my How To Brew book and fortunately I had a week of night shift to do my reading/research and a week off after. I'd a few days in Oslo as a holiday and having tried a couple of beers decided on a SMaSH and a Classic APA.
Last Saturday and Sunday were my brew days and I made notes of the whole process working out how much hops I needed based on IBU's, used Irish Moss for the first time due to previous issues with hazy beer and in general was just a bit more focused on the process and details. As usual I cleaned the kitchen and sanitized everything and got stuck in!
No. 1
SMaSH'd It
Malt: Golden Promise
Hops: Rakau
Yeast White Labs WLP002 English Ale yeast
I'd drank a SMaSH while away on holiday and decided to try a NZ hop and a classic UK malt which I've not used before hence the combination. I read that the WLP002 can bring out the malt character/flavour so thought it would be a good yeast for this brew as well as leaving some residual sweetness which might contrast with the bitterness of this particular hop (it was rated as a 9.2% AAU on the packaging) and possibly contribute to the body of the finished brew. I'm not sure what to expect from this brew as the malt and hops are new to me but the hops had a wonderful aroma and if that carries through to the finish I'll be happy.
No.2
Mountain Ale
This was basically the "How to Brew" APA recipe malt bill which I don't have to hand but the usual pale ale suspects were in there!
Hops: Northern Brewer and Cascade
Yeast: White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super
I was aiming for a classic Sierra Nevada style as it's a beer I like and know what to expect. The yeast I chose to hopefully give a nice clean fermentation and not influence the flavour too much allowing the ingredients to come through in the finished beer.
Mashing was single infusion on both days and done in my Igloo 2 gal cylindrical cooler which basically lost only 1 degree over the hour. I normally have the grains in a mesh bag to aide sparging and getting them into the bin! Both brew days went according to plan - perhaps a little too much sparge water on day 1 but some extra boil time sorted that out. Mashing was from about 45min-1hour give or take as I think previous brews were too short a sparge time. I'm gonna fashion a proper valve on the igloo once I get time to go find the parts as I usually have to sit with my left knee holding a wooden spoon to the little press valve to keep the water gently flowing
Both beers finished up at 1.052. I've got them fermenting in a cool cupboard which sits at a stable and steady 19 degrees. Again previous brews had been in a kitchen 'pantry' but heating pipes caused the temp to fluctuate up to about 24 degrees and at night I'm guessing down to about 18/19 degrees. I made a point of finding the most stable temp for these brews as I think some errors in other brews were down to this unstable fermentation environment.
Both brews have been bubbling away happily since the weekend and I can notice the difference in clarity of the beer over previous brews already, helped in part by the Irish Moss and the yeasts selected. They smell good too and I'm eager to try them out!
Anyway as ever picture speak a thousand words so here is the mash happening with some tropical encouragement and the two brews doing their thing!
I'm tempted to split the brews into two batches and dry hop one and leave the other as is (I've a couple of extra FV's kicking about) but I'll have a taste when I take my gravity reading before I make a final call on that one!
Roll on two weeks time!!
So I've made a couple of AG brews in 1gallon batches with varying success - they've usually been from pre bought kits but havent quite worked out as I'd expected - either I was hoping for greatness or made some errors. Any faults with the finished beer was definitely due to errors on my part and not the kit! So with those OK brews under my belt (let's mark them 6 out of 10 - could do better) I decided to do it right and make some recipes of my own!
I had a look on here, my How To Brew book and fortunately I had a week of night shift to do my reading/research and a week off after. I'd a few days in Oslo as a holiday and having tried a couple of beers decided on a SMaSH and a Classic APA.
Last Saturday and Sunday were my brew days and I made notes of the whole process working out how much hops I needed based on IBU's, used Irish Moss for the first time due to previous issues with hazy beer and in general was just a bit more focused on the process and details. As usual I cleaned the kitchen and sanitized everything and got stuck in!
No. 1
SMaSH'd It
Malt: Golden Promise
Hops: Rakau
Yeast White Labs WLP002 English Ale yeast
I'd drank a SMaSH while away on holiday and decided to try a NZ hop and a classic UK malt which I've not used before hence the combination. I read that the WLP002 can bring out the malt character/flavour so thought it would be a good yeast for this brew as well as leaving some residual sweetness which might contrast with the bitterness of this particular hop (it was rated as a 9.2% AAU on the packaging) and possibly contribute to the body of the finished brew. I'm not sure what to expect from this brew as the malt and hops are new to me but the hops had a wonderful aroma and if that carries through to the finish I'll be happy.
No.2
Mountain Ale
This was basically the "How to Brew" APA recipe malt bill which I don't have to hand but the usual pale ale suspects were in there!
Hops: Northern Brewer and Cascade
Yeast: White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super
I was aiming for a classic Sierra Nevada style as it's a beer I like and know what to expect. The yeast I chose to hopefully give a nice clean fermentation and not influence the flavour too much allowing the ingredients to come through in the finished beer.
Mashing was single infusion on both days and done in my Igloo 2 gal cylindrical cooler which basically lost only 1 degree over the hour. I normally have the grains in a mesh bag to aide sparging and getting them into the bin! Both brew days went according to plan - perhaps a little too much sparge water on day 1 but some extra boil time sorted that out. Mashing was from about 45min-1hour give or take as I think previous brews were too short a sparge time. I'm gonna fashion a proper valve on the igloo once I get time to go find the parts as I usually have to sit with my left knee holding a wooden spoon to the little press valve to keep the water gently flowing
Both beers finished up at 1.052. I've got them fermenting in a cool cupboard which sits at a stable and steady 19 degrees. Again previous brews had been in a kitchen 'pantry' but heating pipes caused the temp to fluctuate up to about 24 degrees and at night I'm guessing down to about 18/19 degrees. I made a point of finding the most stable temp for these brews as I think some errors in other brews were down to this unstable fermentation environment.
Both brews have been bubbling away happily since the weekend and I can notice the difference in clarity of the beer over previous brews already, helped in part by the Irish Moss and the yeasts selected. They smell good too and I'm eager to try them out!
Anyway as ever picture speak a thousand words so here is the mash happening with some tropical encouragement and the two brews doing their thing!
I'm tempted to split the brews into two batches and dry hop one and leave the other as is (I've a couple of extra FV's kicking about) but I'll have a taste when I take my gravity reading before I make a final call on that one!
Roll on two weeks time!!
